Part 1, Chapter 7 Summary

Chapter 7 opens with a page-long soliloquy on the authentic diversity of India before turning to a varied exploration of sex. We experience a son's bashfulness at breaking the taboo of discussing his parents' sex life, clashing with a need to tell his story fully and candidly. Eventually the story of Aurora and Abraham's first fling in the warehouse loft vividly emerges, followed by details of their first night in the bedroom together. With this is intertwined a painful depiction of the struggles of the Reverend Oliver D'Aeth, rector of the church that we saw the couple enter at the end of Part 1.He is wracked by lust for young Aurora (who exudes a scent of spice-and-sex), frightened and allured by death, and ravaged by the South Indian climate. As the narrator overcomes his shyness, Aurora is depicted as dominating and abusing...